September is a significant month in South Africa, marked by commemorations that celebrate our identity, heritage, service and national development. This edition highlights Tourism Month, Heritage Month, Public Service Month and Deaf Awareness Month, each of which reminds us of the diversity, resilience and spirit of our nation.

Training public servants to do their jobs effectively and serve the people efficiently is critical. Law now directs that some training programmes should be compulsory to achieve this goal, writes Dino Poonsamy.

“An unjust law is no law at all,” this is a famous maxim attributed to St. Augustine; one of the most influential philosophers in history. It was also repeated by a well-known civil rights movement leader and activist Martin Luther King Jr who even took it further to say people have a moral responsibility to non-violently disobey unjust laws as they go against human dignity and fairness.

As the 2026 Women’s Month draws to a close, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) celebrates the spirit of unity, collaboration and collective action among women across South Africa. In this spirit, the DFFE partnered with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to commemorate Women’s Month under the theme: “Imbokodo: 70 Years of Women’s Power from Resistance to Transformation.”

Climate change is often discussed in terms of rising temperatures, droughts, floods and extreme weather. Yet one of the world's most powerful climate regulators lies largely out of sight, quietly performing an indispensable service every day.